Baden Named Kenan Distinguished Professor of Marine Sciences at UNCW
2/17/2005 8:24:08 AM
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Feb. 17, 2005
Wilmington, NC – University of North Carolina Wilmington Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo announced today that Daniel G. Baden, director of the UNCW Center for Marine Science, has been named the first William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Marine Sciences.
In November 2003, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust granted $667,000 to UNCW to establish a chair in marine sciences in memory of Owen G. Kenan. A Chapel Hill businessman and philanthropist, Owen Kenan served as a member of the UNCW Board of Trustees for seven years until his death Sept. 2, 2002.
Matched with $334,000 by the State of North Carolina’s Distinguished Professorship program, this became UNCW’s first million dollar chair and the only William R. Kenan, Jr., Chair to be designated by the Kenan Trust to a specific discipline among the more than 100 awarded to date to colleges and universities across the country. Interest income from such investments at a public university provides a supplement to the recipient’s state-based salary.
“Customarily we allow universities to determine the best use of the William R. Kenan, Jr., professorships,” commented Richard M. Krasno, executive director of the trust headquartered in Chapel Hill. “This chair is designated in Owen Kenan’s honor and recognizes Owen’s affection for marine science and his great respect for the marine science program at UNCW.”
The distinguished professorship will provide many benefits to UNCW and the State of North Carolina, commented DePaolo. “This gives our students and faculty an opportunity to work with a recognized expert as they prepare for careers in the field of marine sciences and education. Dr. Baden will also continue to work with other UNC institutions that have interest in marine science.
“His efforts will add immeasurably to the 1994 Board of Governors and the UNC President’s call for the campuses of UNC to work cooperatively in the area of marine science, a goal to which UNCW is strongly committed,” she said.
Baden holds the rank of professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biology and Marine Biology. In addition to his duties as director of CMS, he is the principal executive of the Marine Biotechnology Initiative in North Carolina, (MARBIO-NC), a state-funded initiative. Together with his colleague Jeffrey L.C. Wright, Baden seeks to produce economic benefits through new jobs, new industries and training opportunities in marine biotechnology. During its first year of funding, Baden and colleagues refined two new compounds while working with Florida red tide toxin that have potential to treat cystic fibrosis and similar lung diseases.
He also serves on the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Board of Governors, is a past member of the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, an institute of the National Institutes of Health, and chaired a 15-year review panel for the Superfund Basic Research Program. Since coming to UNCW he has received over $9 million in grants and administered almost $3 million in grants which he brought with him.
Baden, the author or co-author of more than 100 articles in addition to book chapters, holds a BA in chemistry from Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn., and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Miami, School of Medicine, Miami, Fla.
Before joining UNCW in 1999 as director of CMS, Baden was a professor of marine biology and fisheries at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, serving as chair of the Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries from 1994-98, and a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Miami School of Medicine.
“Marine science is a key program for UNC Wilmington. To have this incredible support from the Kenan Trust to help us move forward in marine science is critical to our future as a university. We are very appreciative to have the confidence of the Kenan Trust demonstrated by this distinguished professorship and pleased to have Dr. Baden as its first recipient,” said DePaolo.
UNCW currently has eight distinguished professorships funded at $500,000. They are listed below with the name of the current chair holders.
Cameron Distinguished Professorship in Accountancy
Joanne W. Rockness
Donald R. Watson Distinguished Professorship in Education
Martin A. Kozloff
Carl B. Brown Distinguished Professorship in Marine Science
Jeffrey L.C. Wright
Frank Hawkins Kenan Distinguished Professorship in Marine Sciences
Richard A. Satterlie
Will S. DeLoach Distinguished Professorship in Chemistry
Robert Hancock
Progress Energy/Betty Cameron Distinguished Professorship in Entrepreneurship
Stephen C. Harper
Progress Energy/Gordon Hurlbert Distinguished Professorship in Information Systems
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Dr. Baden
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